CENTRAL AVENUE BREAKDOWN Opens Tonight At NYMF

Central Avenue Breakdown will celebrate its World Premiere at the at the 2011 New York Musical Theatre Festival with a Post-Show Talk-Back with Sonny Simmons, following the Monday, October 10 performance. Central Avenue Breakdown features music & lyrics by Kevin Ray, book by Kevin Ray & Josh Sohn with additional Story by Suellen Vance. The opening night talk back is co-sponsored by The Jazz Foundation of America.

This new musical will begin performances on October 10 and initially run through October 16 at Signature Theatre's The Peter Norton Space (555 West 42nd Street). Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at www.nymf.org or by calling (212)352-3101. For more information about the festival please visit www.NYMF.org.

It's 1940s Los Angeles and the hottest place to be seen is Central Avenue, in the shadow of Hollywood where hot swing blows all night long at clubs like Jack's Chicken Basket and the Club Alabam. Brothers Bill and Jim Marcel are sax players struggling to carve out their own legacies, but first they must overcome a destructive rivalry, addiction, and tragedy before it's too late.

Sonny Simmons (b. 1933), a Louisiana-born acolyte of Charlie Parker, came of age in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he started out studying on English horn before picking up the alto saxophone at age 16. Apprenticing on the West Coast, he gigged with R&B legends Lowell Fulson and Amos Milburn and eventually worked with jazz icon Charles Mingus. Simmons later formed his own band with saxophonist and flutist Prince Lasha and gained national recognition in 1963 with the release of his debut recording "The Cry." In New York later that decade, he recorded with Eric Dolphy and Elvin Jones and became a leading figure on the free jazz scene, recording for ESP-disk and playing with John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins. After settling back in California in 1969 with his then-wife trumpeter and collaborator Barbara Donald, his activity waned over a period of two decades, and he eventually ended up playing in the streets. His career experienced a renaissance in the ‘90s, when he recorded "Ancient Ritual" for Warner Brothers. He soon founded the group the Cosmosamatics with his long-time collaborator Michael Marcus, and now, based out of New York, he continues to record and travel.
The cast includes for Central Avenue Breakdown includes Albert Christmas (Bway: Ragtime, FX's "Lights Out," "Blue Bloods"), Rodrick Covington (Bway: The Lion King, Regional: The Brother/Sister Plays, Venice), Jennie L. Harney (Children of God, Beehive), Rebecca LaChance (Broadway Rising Stars Concert), Thaddeus McCants (Regional: Spelling Bee, West Side Story), Eileen Patterson, Nicole Powell (Bway: Ragtime, Hairspray), Ken Robinson (Bway: Baby It's You), Lou Steele (Aida, Miss Saigon), Josh Tower (Bway: The Lion King, Ragtime. Off: Langston in Harlem Audelco nomination), Anne Marie Vick (A Chorus Line, White Christmas, Anything Goes).

Central Avenue Breakdown's "Best Scat Singer On The Web" Contest

The winner will receive the infamy and fame that comes from being the best scat singer on the web, but will also get a free Central Avenue Breakdown t-shirt and two free tickets to the show!

How it works:
1) Record a video of yourself scatting to your hearts content. Please keep it under a minute and a half!

2) Upload the video to either our Facebook page or our Twitter Page.

3) We'll pick the winner based on not just talent, but who is the most popular scat singer on the web (you don't have to be a trained singer to enter! We just want the most entertaining and soulful scats heard!).

So please, show us that you can scat like the swingin' cats we know you are and show us what you got!
Some examples of scatting from the street can be found right here!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GbpYocQJHa8

Central Avenue Breakdown
Music & Lyrics by Kevin Ray; Book by Kevin Ray & Josh Sohn
Additional Story by Suellen Vance
Directed by Christopher Windom
Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at www.nymf.org or by calling (212)352-3101.

The Signature Theatre - The Peter Norton Space is located at 555 West 42nd Street
Monday, Oct 10th, 2011 at 8:00 pm
Tuesday, Oct 11th, 2011 at 1:00 pm
Thursday, Oct 13th, 2011 at 9:00 pm
Friday, Oct 14th, 2011 at 5:00 pm
Saturday, Oct 15th, 2011 at 9:00 pm
Sunday, Oct 16th, 2011 at 1:00 pm
Running time 2:15 with intermission
For more info about Central Avenue Breakdown please visit www.thelastwordmusical.com

POST SHOW TALK BACK with SONNY SIMMONS
Following the Monday, Oct 10th performance
The talk back is free with paid admission to Central Avenue Breakdown

For more information please visit www.NYMF.org